Improvement in boat-loweriig apparatus



@with if tut @fitta l B E R il C H- E U Z B A U R, O F. N'E W Y'O R K,N. Y.

letters Patent IVO. 72,170, dated .December 17, 18.67.

IMPROVMEN'I IN BOAT-LOWERING APPARATUS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:v

Be it known that 1, ROBERT CREUZBAUR, of NewYork city, iu the Vcounty-and Sta-te of New York, 'have invented an Apparatus for LoweringandIicking up Boats and I do hereby declare that the following'isaftill," clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a.l part of this specification, inwhich-' Figure 1, sheet 1, is a vertical sectional` view of a portionofa deck, and one side of a ship, showingfin side elevation, theapplication thereto of the improved boat-lowering and picking-upapparatus.

Figure 2, sheet 1, is asimilar view of the same parts shown in iig. 1,indicating the davits `iu the act of raising or lowering a boat'.

Figure 3 is a vertical diametrical section through oneof thedavitfsprings, enlarged. v

Figure 4, sheet 2, is a top view of fig. 2.

Figure 5, sheet 2, is a View, partly in section, oi' the upper portionof'one of the davits.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The object of this 4invention is to overcome the dangers anddifficulties incident to the raising, lowering, and casting olf of shipsboats, 'and to render access to and from a boat comparatively safe.Under the old mode of constructing and arranging the davits from whichships" boats are suspended and lowered, the boats are necessarilybrought so near the side of the vessel, that even under ordinaryswells'of the sca there is great danger of having the boats dashed against thevessel, and capsizedor crushed.

To avoid these accidents, the nature of my invention consists in soconstructing the davits and applying them to a vessel, that they shallhave a free swinging motion toward and from thewator, and at the sametime admit of being turned around like u crane when theyarc in uprightpositions, so that when the bout is not in immediate use, it can beswung inward gver the deck of the vessel vand lashed fast, as will behereinafter described.

l The invention also consists in the application of springs, or otherequivalent means, to davits whichare allowed to have avertically-swinging motion toward and from the water, iu such mannerthat the tendency of the davits shall always be to 'assume uprightpositions when unrestrained by the weightof the boat; thus, when a bontis launched, but, moored to the davits, rises upon aware, the davitswill also rise, and thus prevent col-A.'

lision and injury to passengers in the boat, as will be hereinafterdescribed.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I willproceed to describe one practical mode of carrying it into effect; y

In the accompanying drawings, A A represents two hinged or`pvoteddavits, which are attached to 'the outside of the vessel by means ofpins, a a, or in any other suitable manner which will admit of thedavits being vibrated in vertical planes at right angles to the lengthof the vessel, as indicated by the two positions shown in figs. 1 and 2.These davits are hinged or pivoted separatelyto the vessels side, sothat they may have indepen lentn1overncnts of each other, or rise anddescend in the are of a circle together.

Thedrawings represent the lower ends of the davits forked, and pivotedto brackets, which are rigidly fastened to the vessel outside; but it isnot contemplated to confine the invention to this peculiar attachment,`

as other ulodes'of hinging the davits may he adopted. lhe forked ends of'the davits serve to brace and strengthen them, and prevent vibra-tionand undue strain in a direction with the-length of thc vessel.` Theupper ends of the standards or straight portions of the ,davits A A areconstructed with sockets in them, in which screw-threads are formed, forreceiving the;` screw-threaded lower ends of the curved overhangingportions of the davits, from which the boat B' is suspended. This modeof constructing tho davits will al'lo'w ofthe swinging of their curvedtop portions or sections, with boat attached, inward or over the deck ofthe vessel, as indicated by red lines in fig.,1, in which 'figure thecurved portions of the davits are also represented as turned outward. Atthe extremity of the curved part ofeach davit is a' pulley, P, overwhich the suspending-rope R works, and upon which this rope is safelyheld by the shieldS, which turns freely on theaxle of said pulley, so astoconform to the different positions or directions of the rope inraising and lowering the free end ofthe davit. This shield S has an eye,b, through which rope R passes, and by which the hood or shield iscaused to accommodate itself to this rope, and also-held safely in thegroove of the pulley P, whether the boat surges fore and aft, or in anyother direction. 4

rai-iu I 2 I v l,

'llo-enable a person to pass safely down over the davit or davits to aboat which is lowered in the water, or to pass from such boat to th'cvessel, a ladder or stairway is constructed upon both the straight andcurved sec tions ot' each davit. l This may bc done by screwing rounds'fr into the sides ofthe straight and curved sections of the ilavits,and applying rails rl r2 t'o the ends ot said rounds, as shown in iig.4, sheet 2. In the modei, the rounds `and rails of the curved sectionsof the davits' are applied on the inner sides thereof, while the roundsand rails of the'straight sections are applied on their outer sides; -itwould bevpreferable, however, to place the latter on the inside also. Inorder to complete the passageway, a hand-railing is applied to eachsection of leach davit, which railing is formed on thestraight portionof each davit by the supporting-standards d d, and

rail c. 'These standards are pivoted to the rounds, or to ears at oneend, and to the rail c at the other end. The rail c is hinged by itslower or inner en'd at c to one ot the suspension-bars V, above thepoint of attachment of the davit to the vessels side, and all the partsare of such length that true parallelograms are formed between theseveral pivots, which admit ot said parts folding up eoinpactly when thedavit is brought to an upright position, shown lin iig. 1. On the curvedportion of each davit, the hand-rail consists simply of a standard, 1w,with a hand-rope, d1, fastened to an eye on the free end of the rail e,and passing through an eye formed on the upper end of this standard, aswell as-through an eye at the outer extremity ot' the rail r2,terminating in a ballor iioat, cl2, to keep it taut, and to facilitatethe grasping of this rope. The weight of the boat will prevent theturning 'of these curved portions when stepped upon by persons. When theladder-ways on the upper and lower portions are both on the inside, theformer lap and rest on the latter, which steadies them the more. Therope R of each davit passesfrom the h ooded pulley P over a pulley, F,figs. 1 and 2, and thence down the gunwale, beneath tho'deck of thevessel, and under a pulley, G. 4From this pulley the rope of each davitpasses beneatha pulley, z, toa drum, 7c. The rope R of each davit isprevented from fouling by having a grooved roller, h', to pressfupontand hold it securely in its place inthe groove of the pulley h. ThedrumsA K K are applied to a shaft, L, which isarranged longitudinallywith and in the centre of the vessel, as shown in tig. 4, sheet 2.y Bymeans of a friction-brake, a hand-wheel, and a ratchet and pawl, appliedto the drumshaft L, one person can raise and lower a boat on an evenheel. Those parts which relate to the drums and the method of riggingthe boat and davits, will be described vin another application for apatcnt, which I have lettered B, and which will accompany thisapplication. i i

As the vibrating davits, when lowered, would .endanger a boat risingsuddenly upon a wave, it is desirable to have these davits rise outofthe way of the boat when relieved of the weight thereof. For thispurpose, twoA suspension-bars, V V, are hinged to each davit, close totheir respective pivots, as shown in figs, 1 and 2. The upper ends ofeach pairof bars V V are pivoted to the outer forked ends ofthe lever X,which-has its fulcrum in the side of the vessel. The inner end of thislever X is pivoted to thc upper end of the rod Y, which passes downthrough a series or pile of springs, I, which 'are made ot India rubberor other suitable material, and which alternate with plates I. Thesesprings are confined between cap and bottom plates, in a suitablemanner, and upon said rod Y, beneath the bottomcplate, a screw-nut, Y',is applied, by which the tension of the springs can be easily regulated.lThe cap-plate is confined by two outside rods to the fixed bracket Z,as shown. The lower end of the said rod Y passes freely through an eyiiwhich is made through the said fixed bracket Z,.so

that thisrod, with its springs, will accommodate itself to the sweep ofthe end of lever X, and the davits will preserve a proper distance froma iloating boat suspended from them.' When the davits are both broughtto upright positions, shown in fig. 1, and secured by .means of'latches,g, or other suitable device, their upper curved sections may be swungaround like the old and well-known swinging davits, and under certaincircumstances a boat may be raised'and lowered in the usual manner,without swinging the davits tbward and from the water.

The devices for attaching the boat to the ends of the davit-ropes R R,and detaching it therefrom, may be constructed in any suitable manner.The device shown in the 4drawings will answer a very good purpose, and

will form the subject of an application for a patent.i"wlxich islettered 0,'nnd which will accompany this application.

Having described iny invention, what I ,claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. Davits which are hinged in such manner as to swingfreely in verticalor nearly vertical planes toward anifrom the water, and to vibrate aboveand below a horizontal plane intersecting their axes of motion,substantially as described. i

2. The application of curved-sections to the upper ends of davits whichare hinged at their lower ends, so that said sectionscan be turnedaround, independently of the standards or lower sections of the davits,substantially as described. i n

3. The application of a ladder to a davit, operating substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination of a folclingl1and-rail and ladder to a hinged davit,operating substantially as described.

5. Boats."davits, hinged lsubstantially as described, when counterpoisedby a i'orc'c suilicient to raise them without the boat, but easilyovercome by vthe weight of the boat.

.liB'lh CRE iZBUR.

Witnesses:

Wat H. WooDMAn,

WM. G. WnEnLwmGnr.

